Media independent multi-rat function in a converged device

ABSTRACT

A communication device facilitates a multiple radio access technology (multi-RAT) mesh network and includes a processor that executes a media independent mesh function (MIMF), the MIMF configured to exchange media independent mesh information between peer mesh entities. At least two physical network links of the communication device support different radio access technologies (RATs). The MIMF is further configured to determine a RAT-agnostic link quality estimate for a signal routing, to selectively activate or deactivate each RAT-based physical network link to conserve power and control bandwidth; and to determine a multi-RAT mesh capability of a peer device.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/782,851, filed Jul. 25, 2007, which will issue as U.S. Pat. No.8,411,651 on Apr. 2, 2013, and also claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/820,519, filed on Jul. 27, 2006, andU.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/908,099, filed on Mar. 26,2007, all of which are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention is related to communication networks. Moreparticularly, the present invention is related to the use of multipleradio technologies in a mesh network.

BACKGROUND

A trend in the telecommunications industry is the development ofwireless devices that support multiple functions, such as, voicecommunication, music downloads, video and movie downloads, photography,location mapping, game playing, and the like. Wireless devices thatsupport multiple functions with multiple radio access technologies(RATs) are referred to herein as multi-RAT converged devices (CDs).

Another trend in the telecommunications industry is the development ofdevices that support multiple access technologies and networks thatsupport multiple devices. More specifically, work is in progress so thattechnologies such as wireless local area network (WLAN), Bluetooth,Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) or IEEE 802.16,IEEE 802.3, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)/General PacketRadio Service (GPRS) and Evolution Data Only (EV-DO) will work togetherin a single network. Multiple devices can be grouped into networks withspontaneous network connectivity. These networks are referred to as meshnetworks. IEEE group 802.11 (WLAN) has extended the 802.11 specification(802.11s) to include a WLAN mesh network. Similarly, IEEE group 802.15has extended their specification to 802.15.5 for a mesh wirelesspersonal area network (WPAN) and IEEE 802.16 has been extended to802.16a to support a WiMAX mesh. Theses mesh architectures strive toprovide robust network access with extended range, low cost and quick,easy deployment. However, each of these extensions supports only asingle radio technology.

It would be desirable to have a multi-RAT mesh network wherein CDs canbe used to dynamically route data from nodes, whether fixed or mobile,using the most appropriate RAT towards a destination that otherwise maynot have been reached. The CD could be used as a relay for multi-RAT,multi-hop communication.

A challenge for a CD is to be able to provide consistent mesh serviceswhile utilizing multiple RATs. Mesh related functions are preferablygeneric and Layer 1 (L1) signaling agnostic, while selection of theradio to use for the next hop communication should be optimal, based onquality-of-service (QoS), battery level, next hop capability and thelike. It would therefore be desirable to incorporate an intermediatefunctional layer between the radio layer and the mesh network layer thatcan abstract the RAT messages, the mesh-related upper layers and sharemesh related information with its peers in the mesh network.

SUMMARY

The present invention is related to a communication device configured tofacilitate a mesh network. The device includes a media independent meshfunction (MIMF) configured to exchange media independent meshinformation between peer mesh entities. The device preferably hasmultiple physical network links that communicate with the MIMF.Thedevice preferably includes a media dependant mesh function and aplurality of upper layer functions. The MIMF is configured tocommunicate with, monitor and configure multiple radio accesstechnologies in a single mesh network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more detailed understanding of the invention may be had from thefollowing description of a preferred embodiment, given by way of exampleand to be understood in conjunction with the accompanying drawing(s)wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of device equipped with multi-radio accesstechnology in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a typical multi-RAT mesh communicationnetwork in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a typical Multi-RAT home network inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of signal flow for adding a device to atypical Multi-RAT network in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a mesh network with a Multi-RAT convergencedevice proxy is accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;and

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a mesh network in accordance with an alternativeembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

When referred to hereafter, the terminology “wireless transmit/receiveunit (WTRU)” includes but is not limited to a user equipment (UE), amobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a pager, a cellulartelephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a computer, or any othertype of user device capable of operating in a wireless environment. Whenreferred to hereafter, the terminology “base station” includes but isnot limited to a Node-B, a site controller, an access point (AP), or anyother type of interfacing device capable of operating in a wirelessenvironment.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a block diagram of a deviceequipped with multi-radio access technology in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. The device 100 preferably includesa physical layer 102 that may include multiple radio technologies, suchas, 802.3, 802.11 and the like. The physical layer communicates with themedia independent multi-RAT function 104. The MIMF 104 preferablyprovides multiple functions and abstracts mesh functions from the RATtechnology. Mesh function 106 resides between the MIMF 104 and multipleapplications 108. The mesh function 106 includes, for example, meshrouting, mesh forwarding, and the like. An application layer 108includes a number of applications that the device uses to perform itsupper level functions.

The MIMF 104 preferably provides a number of functions. The MIMF 104 mayprovide support for multi-RAT physical links, such as IEEE 802.3, IEEE802.11, WLAN, Bluetooth, and WiMAX, for example. The MIMF 104 preferablyprovides an interface between the different radio formats and the meshnetwork.

The MIMF 104 preferably determines the multi-RAT mesh capability of apeer node. This may include, for example, a peer's active RATs, networkidentities, and levels of connectivity, such as wide-area andlocal-area. This may also include determining a peer node's routingcapabilities, administrative and security requirements and power-savingtechniques.

The MIMF 104 may monitor individual RATs in order to detect and reportchanges in the status of neighboring mesh nodes. The MIMF 104 may alsocompare individual RAT links and provide a coherent link cost estimatefor each RAT. The comparison may be transmitted to mesh upper layerfunctions and used as input for various decision making processes. Byway of example, the MIMF 104 may abstract the metrics that are specificto each RAT in a network to determine a RAT-agnostic link qualityestimate that may be used, for example, for signal routing.

The MIMF 104 may handle data scheduling duties for data that isexchanged between the different RATs. Furthermore, the MIMF 104 maycontrol power to each RAT, turning each RAT on or off as needed toconserve power and increase bandwidth.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a multi-RAT peer protocol in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention. Multi-RAT device A 202 maycommunicate with Multi-RAT device B 204 across the peer-to-peercommunication link 206. The link 206 may be compliant with IEEE 802.21and may use, for example, media independent handover (MIH) InformationService or some other Internet Protocol (IP)-type protocol. The mediumaccess control (MAC) layer 208 preferably is compliant with legacysystems such as 802.11, 802.15 or 802.16. Preferably, the MAC layer 208is a mesh capable MAC, such as 802.11s, 802.15.5 or 802.16a. The MIMF210 may communicate with both mesh and non-mesh MACs.

A typical home network may be configured as a multi-RAT mesh network.FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a typical multi-RAT mesh home network inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention. In a firstbedroom 316 is a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) complianthandset 312. In a second bedroom 320 is a land-line telephone 326 and apersonal computer (PC) 324. In the home office 328 is a video camera308, a desktop PC 306 and a wireless Multiple Input/Multiple Output(MIMO) router 304. The land-line phone 326, the bedroom PC 324, thevideo camera 308 and the office PC 306 are networked over a Bluetoothnetwork. The home also has a WiFi network that includes the bedroom PC324 the entertainment system 322 in the living room 330, the laptop PC314 in the living room 330, the PC 312 in bedroom 1 314, the office PC306 and the wireless MIMO router 304. The entertainment system 322communicates internally over a Wireless-Universal Serial Bus (W-USBbus). The wireless handset 318 also communicates with the laptop PC 314over W-USB bus. Lastly, the wireless MIMO router 304 is in communicationwith the Internet 302 over a WiMax connection. As shown in FIG. 3, thereare four (4) different RATs functioning in 10 different devices. Usingmulti-RAT mesh technology, all these devices can be networked withoutadditional cabling. The network can be extended easily, and can survivethe loss of a node. Lastly, the network can provide high datathroughput.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of signal flow for adding a device to atypical multi-RAT network in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention. For example, when the handset (312 of FIG. 3) ispowered on, it detects both a 3GPP network and a WLAN network. In thehandset 312, a WLAN entity 404 and a 3GPP entity 406 generate an eventservice 408. The PC in the bedroom (314 of FIG. 3) detects WLAN activityand its WLAN entity 410 generates an event service 412. The PC 314provides WLAN mesh details to the 3GPP handset 312 over informationservice (IS) 414. The media independent mesh function 416 in the PC 314sends a media independent mesh function IS 414 to the MIMF 418 of thehandset 312 . The information in the information service signal mayinclude mesh network availability, mesh routing, quality of servicerequirements, and the like. The MIMF 418 of the handset 312 transmitsthe information to the mesh function 420. The handset 312 decides tojoin the network and the MIMF 418 configures the WLAN links accordingly.The command service link 422 can be configured in order to, for example,power down the 3GPP function for power savings.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a mesh network with a Multi-RAT ConvergenceDevice proxy in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.A multi-RAT device 502 serves as a portal for mesh network A 504 andmesh network B 506. Mesh network A 504 is compatible with a singleradio. Mesh network B 506 is compatible with a single radio that isdifferent from the radio used in mesh network A 504. A multi-RAT device502 can act as a bridge between the two networks.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a mesh network 600 in accordance with analternative embodiment of the present invention. Each node on thenetwork is a multi-RAT device. A MIMF in each device enables themulti-RAT connections. The MIMF has the flexibility to configure thenetwork in multiple ways. In FIG. 6, device CD1 602 is compatible withradio 1 and radio 2. Device CD2 604 is also compatible with radio 1 andradio 2. CD1 602 and CD2 604 communicate over link 606 and link 608.Device CD4 610 is compatible with radio 2 and radio 3. CD4 610communicates with CD1 over link 612 and CD2 604 over link 614 usingradio 2. Device CD3 616 is compatible with radio 1 and radio 3. CD3 616communicates with CD1 602 over link 618 and CD2 over link 620 usingradio 1. CD3 616 communicates with CD4 610 over link 622 using radio 3.The media independent mesh function informs each of the mesh functionsin each of the mesh devices about the other mesh devices in the network,including the active radios for each mesh device.

Although the features and elements of the present invention aredescribed in the preferred embodiments in particular combinations, eachfeature or element can be used alone without the other features andelements of the preferred embodiments or in various combinations with orwithout other features and elements of the present invention. Themethods or flow charts provided in the present invention may beimplemented in a computer program, software, or firmware tangiblyembodied in a computer-readable storage medium for execution by ageneral purpose computer or a processor. Examples of computer-readablestorage mediums include a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory(RAM), a register, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magneticmedia such as internal hard disks and removable disks, magneto-opticalmedia, and optical media such as CD-ROM disks, and digital versatiledisks (DVDs).

Suitable processors include, by way of example, a general purposeprocessor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, adigital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, amicrocontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), FieldProgrammable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) circuits, any other type of integratedcircuit (IC), and/or a state machine.

A processor in association with software may be used to implement aradio frequency transceiver for use in a wireless transmit receive unit(WTRU), user equipment (UE), terminal, base station, radio networkcontroller (RNC), or any host computer. The WTRU may be used inconjunction with modules, implemented in hardware and/or software, suchas a camera, a video camera module, a videophone, a speakerphone, avibration device, a speaker, a microphone, a television transceiver, ahands free headset, a keyboard, a Bluetooth® module, a frequencymodulated (FM) radio unit, a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit,an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display unit, a digital musicplayer, a media player, a video game player module, an Internet browser,and/or any wireless local area network (WLAN) module.

What is claimed is:
 1. A communication device configured to facilitate amesh network communicating on multiple radio access technologies (RATs),the communication device comprising: at least two physical networkports, wherein each of the at least two physical network ports support adifferent RAT; a processor for executing a media independent meshfunction (MIMF), wherein the MIMF comprises: exchanging mediaindependent mesh information between peer mesh entities; determining aRAT-agnostic link quality estimate for signal routing; selectivelyactivating or deactivating each RAT-based physical network port toconserve power and control bandwidth; and determining a multi-RAT meshcapability of a peer device.
 2. The communication device of claim 1,wherein the at least two physical network ports communicate directlywith the MIMF.
 3. The communication device of claim 2, furthercomprising a media dependent mesh function and upper layer functions,wherein the MIMF operates as middleware between the physical networkports and the media dependent mesh function.
 4. The communication deviceof claim 1, wherein the MIMF further comprises: monitoring a pluralityof RATs; and reporting changes in status detected in at least one peerdevice.
 5. The communication device of claim 1, wherein the MIMF furthercomprises: comparing a plurality of physical network ports related to arespective plurality of RATs to determine a coherent link cost estimatefor each of the plurality of RATs.
 6. The communication device of claim1, wherein the MIMF further comprises: scheduling a data transfer acrossthe mesh network.
 7. The communication device of claim 1, wherein theMIMF further comprises: selectively activating a RAT; and adjusting abandwidth between the communication device and at least one peer device.8. A method for communication between multiple radio access technologies(RATs) in a mesh network, the method comprising: controlling, by aprocessor executing a media independent mesh function (MIMF), data flowbetween a plurality of mesh nodes; extracting, by the processorexecuting the MIMF, metrics that are specific to each of a plurality ofRATs associated with at least two physical network ports, wherein eachof the at least two physical network ports support a different RAT,determining, by the processor executing the MIMF, a RAT-agnostic linkquality estimate for signal routing; determining, by the processorexecuting the MIMF, a multi-RAT mesh capability of a peer device; andselectively activating or deactivating, by the processor executing theMIMF, each RAT-based physical network port to conserve power and controlbandwidth.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the metrics that arespecific to each of the plurality of RATs comprise at least one of aquality of service, a battery level of a device, or a RAT capability ofa device.
 10. The method of claim 8, further comprising: transmitting,by the processor executing the MIMF, mesh data to a second processorexecuting a second MIMF, wherein the second processor executing thesecond MIMF resides in a separate mesh device.
 11. The method of claim8, further comprising: monitoring, by the processor executing the MIMF,each RAT in the network and reporting changes in peer node status to aplurality of processors executing a plurality of MIMFs residing in aplurality of mesh devices.
 12. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising: determining, by the processor executing the MIMF, astandardized measure of signal quality; and tracking, by the processorexecuting the MIMF, the standardized measure for all mesh nodes.
 13. Themethod of claim 8, further comprising: adjusting, by the processorexecuting the MIMF, bandwidth between devices by selectively activatingand deactivating a RAT.
 14. The method of claim 8, wherein thedetermined multi-RAT mesh capability of the peer device includes activeRATs for the peer device.
 15. The method of claim 8, wherein thedetermined multi-RAT mesh capability of the peer device includes networkidentities for the peer device.
 16. The method of claim 8, wherein thedetermined multi-RAT mesh capability of the peer device includes a levelof wide-area connectivity and a level of local-area connectivity. 17.The method of claim 8, wherein the determined multi-RAT mesh capabilityof the peer device includes routing capabilities of the peer device. 18.The method of claim 8, wherein the determined multi-RAT mesh capabilityof the peer device includes administrative and security requirements ofthe peer device.
 19. The method of claim 8, wherein the determinedmulti-RAT mesh capability of the peer device includes a power-savingtechniques of the peer device.